• Installing Tunnelblick
• The First Time Tunnelblick is Run by Each User
• Launching Tunnelblick
• Uninstalling Tunnelblick
• Absolutely Complete Uninstall

Installing Tunnelblick

The Tunnelblick application contains the Tunnelblick GUI, OpenVPN, and OpenSSL, so no other installations are needed.

Special note for those who may have installed RaptorVPN or Urban Shield VPN, VPN In China, or other VPN software: These installations have backups that must be removed before installing or reinstalling Tunnelblick unless you are continuing to use the same service. See this Discussion Group thread.

First, download the latest disk image from the Downloads page. Double-click the downloaded .dmg file. An icon for a "Tunnelblick” disk will appear on the Desktop, and a window similar to the following will appear:

Double-click the Tunnelblick icon and a new window will appear, similar to the following:

Click the "Open" button to continue and a new window will appear, similar to the following:

If you are reinstalling, upgrading, or downgrading Tunnelblick, the window will show the version number of the current copy and of the new copy. The current copy of Tunnelblick will be put in the Trash before it is replaced.

The name and password of a computer administrator is needed to install Tunnelblick. Tunnelblick's imbedded OpenVPN needs root privileges because it needs to modify network settings by configuring new network devices, changing routes, and adding and removing nameservers. Because we don't want you to enter your administrator account name and password every time you start a VPN connection, Tunnelblick comes with a setuid root binary that allows it to start a VPN connection with super user rights. Tunnelblick uses your administrator account name and password so it can create this setuid root binary. Tunnelblick also secures itself from being modified.

Click the "Install" button to copy Tunnelblick to your hard drive at the indicated location.

Once that is done (it may take a couple of seconds), a new window will appear, similar to the following:

Click the "Launch" button to launch Tunnelblick

If Tunnelblick is currently running, a window similar to the following will appear:

(Note: Connections marked "automatically start when computer starts" will not be closed.)

Click the "Close VPN Connections and Stop Tunnelblick" to continue. After all connections are closed and Tunnelblick has quit, the new version of Tunnelblick will be launched. Continue with the following sections.

The First Time Tunnelblick is Run by Each User

If this is the first time you have run Tunnelblick as a particular user, or the first time after certain Tunnelblick upgrades, the following window will appear:

Specify whether or not you wish to have Tunnelblick check for updates each time it is launched. Each time an update is available, you will be given a choice of whether to install the update or not.

When there are no configurations (which is usually the case the first time Tunnelblick is run by each user when using a non-deployed version of Tunnelblick with no Shared configurations), the configuration helper will appear:

Click the appropriate button and the configuration helper will guide you through the installation of configuration files.

Launching Tunnelblick

To launch Tunnelblick after setting up configuration and other files, double-click "Launch Tunnelblick" in the Configurations folder, or double-click Tunnelblick in the Applications folder (or wherever else you installed it).

If Tunnelblick is running when you log out, shut down, or restart your computer, it will automatically be launched when you log in.

Uninstalling Tunnelblick

Special note for those who may have installed RaptorVPN or Urban Shield VPN, VPN In China, or other VPN software: These installations have backups that must be removed before installing or reinstalling Tunnelblick unless you are continuing to use the same service. See this Discussion Group thread.

To uninstall Tunnelblick:

1. Disconnect any open connections.
2. Change any configurations that are set to connect when the computer starts to connect when Tunnelblick is launched.
3. Quit Tunnelblick.
4. Move Tunnelblick.app from the Applications folder to the Trash.

If you get a "spinning beachball" when you click the Tunnelblick icon, that usually means that Tunnelblick has a window open and is waiting for your response. Minimize or close the windows of all other applications (and in all Spaces) to expose the window.

If Tunnelblick does not have an open window, you will have to force Tunnelblick to quit. Follow the procedure described in this discussion in the Tunnelblick Discussion Group.

• Other than the preferences, configuration files, and LaunchDaemon files described in File Locations, there are no other files installed -- OpenVPN, scripts, and the tun/tap kernel extensions are contained within Tunnelblick and are loaded only when needed directly from there.
• Tunnelblick may store passphrases or passwords in the Keychain at the user's request.
• Tunnelblick version 3.1beta02 and later automatically unload the tun and tap kexts when you disconnect; otherwise you can unload them by restarting your computer or manually with the "kextunload" Terminal command. (Usually it doesn't matter if they are loaded unless you are using other VPN software.)

Absolutely Complete Uninstall

For a complete uninstall of the program and all support files, do the following:

1. Make sure you have a backup of your Tunnelblick configuration file(s) -- the .ovpn and/or .tblk files.
2. Make a note of any configuration settings and appearance and other preferences you have set up. (They will be lost.)
3. Follow the instructions above at Uninstalling 3.1 & 3.2.
4. Delete any files whose names start with "net.tunnelblick" in the /Library/LaunchDaemons folder:
5. Delete the following folders: /Library/Application Support/Tunnelblick and ~/Library/Application Support/Tunnelblick
6. Delete the following files: ~/Library/Preferences/net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.plist and ~/Library/Preferences/com.openvpn.tunnelblick.plist
7. Delete the following link if it exists: ~/Library/openvpn
8. Use Keychain Access to delete all Keychain items with names starting with "Tunnelblick".
9. Restart your computer.

PLEASE USE THE TUNNELBLICK DISCUSSION GROUP FOR COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS